Click Through Rate (CTR) – A critical Adwords performance measure

A high click through rate is a term that most people associate with the company spending the most money on Adwords. Most businesses take the time analyse CTR; and then bypass and focus on sexier metrics like lowest CPC, new keywords, impression share etc.

Here are 5 reasons why you should spend more time improving your CTR:

• 1. Increase your search engine market share

  Another way of looking at improving your click through rate is increasing your search engine market share. Once your keyword segmentation is refined, click through rate becomes one of your most important levers to increase your traffic. With the right focus improving your click through rate with better ads and positioning is arguably one of the fastest ways you can increase your sales in the shortest amount of time.

• 2. Get Creative

  Testing new Adwords creative is a brilliant way to test new marketing messaging, offers or market positioning. How much time is wasted discussing whether a marketing idea will work. Spend less time discussing marketing ideas and more time testing your Adwords creative

• 3. Convert for Less!

  A higher click through rate improves your quality score and most importantly can significantly reduce your cost per click. Who doesn’t like the idea of more clicks, more conversions for less!

• 4. Increase Sale Conversion

  A higher click through rate will not only increase your clicks, but can also help boost sales conversions. Click through rate is a reflection of your market positioning and value proposition, if you’re creative and website share the same message you will more than likely be rewarded with more sales.

• 5. Stand Out from the Crowd!

  Google now offers a variety of different ways you can display your adwords creative and boost your CTR with Site links, local links etc.. these options help your business get more clicks, stand out from the crowd and deliver a tailored message to your customers.

Don’t wait for conversions, make them!

It’s time for you to spend more time on click through rate in 2012. If you would like expert advice on best practice copy and methods to cut through your online market, please contact us for a free Adwords campaign review.

Double your profit from Search Engines

Take the opportunity to access invaluable information and network with other like-minded professionals. Register your attendance today and feel free to bring a guest along.

Our experts from roi.com.au will be talking about current SEO standards and online marketing trends. It will be an excellent opportunity to gain insight into a subject which is often misunderstood. Have your questions answered in person by an industry specialist.

Take your Search Engine performance to the next level!

Learn about:
• What Search Engines can do for your company.
• What is the quality of your traffic and where does it come from?
• Which areas are draining your marketing budget?
• What are your money keywords?
• Is your website performing at 100%?

Penguin is the label given to Google’s latest algorithm change, which has been developed to specifically target spamming and websites that subscribe to this black-hat notion. It was launched on April 24 and has been confirmed as fully live by Google. The update follows on from Google’s Panda update, which had a big focus on penalising websites which utilised poor quality content.

How to determine whether your site was hit by the Penguin

Check your Dates:

The first port of call is to look at the date your traffic changed.
If your traffic dropped or improved after April 24, odds are that you have been hit, be it positively or negatively, by Penguin.

Maybe it was Panda?

If your traffic changed before April 24, you are more likely to have been impacted by Google’s Panda 3.5 update, which was launched just a week earlier on April 19. Confusing, we know.

Whilst Panda and Penguin are both about improving the quality of websites, there is a distinct difference. Penguin has an inherent focus on spam and sites utilising spamming techniques. Panda is designed to target pages that are of low-quality, which includes but isn’t restricted to just spam.

What About Over-Optimisation?

Previously Google had signalled that an ‘over-optimisation’ penalty would be coming into play. Penguin looks like the answer to this statement, with spam being the target rather than the hard to define ‘over-optimisation’ angle.

My website was impacted by the Penguin update – how will I ever recover?

By following these 8 tips! The Google Penguin update is aimed to make your site better and more user-friendly, so odds are that if you’re hit, you could use a little refresh!

• 1. The Penguin Feedback Form

  If you think you’ve been unfairly targeted by the Penguin update, there are avenues of resolution. Google has created a new Penguin Feedback form that you can use to report errors applied to your site. They also advise to post on the webmaster forum to get feedback from others. What won’t work is submitting a reconsideration request because, in their eyes, Penguin is the gospel according to Cutts.

• 2. Avoid Un-Natural Link Building

  Blog networks and article spamming sites have been hit hard as a result of both Penguin and Panda. As a result, if your website previously utilised these mediums, remove all links and stop doing it! Getting links from credible sites in your industry or as a result of writing up a great guest blog post are much more beneficial than paid or spammy link sites. Build your link profile naturally and steadily and you’ll be rewarded.

• 3. Check Webmaster Tools for Notifications

  Your Webmaster Tools account is chock full of information that can improve your site. Jump in there to see if Google has highlighted any unnatural links or other errors on your site. It’s a simple way to identify and resolve site problems.

• 4. Hidden Text, Hidden Links

  Are you being sneaky? Hiding text and links from site users is seen as cheating the system and will cop a traffic slap. If the content or links aren’t worthy to your users, they aren’t worthy to Google. Remember the golden rule – always optimise with the user’s experience in mind.

• 5. Uncloak and De-Shade Your Redirects

  Cloaking has been bad from the get-go, so if you’re doing it you’ve been going wrong for some time now. It refers to when you have one page set up for crawlers and another set-up for users that are essentially the same thing. The same goes for redirects that use meta refresh, Javascript, PHP, ASP and other techniques that are intended to mislead both crawlers and users.

• 6. Take Control of Your Outbound Links

  Outbound links may have a direct impact on your site’s rankings and traffic. Google use your outbound linking profile to determine the type of websites that you associate with. If you link to poor quality, or less credible websites, Google may come to the conclusion that you are also poor quality. The amount of links on any given page, and across the domain, also matters. Try to keep outbound links down on any given page in order to avoid Google’s anti-spam algorithm update. So remember: keep your outbound link profile to a small percentage of highly credible sites and you will come out on top. If you have a large number of links on a page, splitting a page up and increasing the amount of original, unique content could help fight the mighty Penguin.

• 7. Say No to Keyword Stuffing

  Much like its equivalent chicken, the risk of over indulging keyword stuffing is something all content writers go through. Previously we relied on densities, but, with Panda on our case, the need to throw this out the window and focus purely on quality is vital. Forget the keywords, focus on the user. It will all come naturally if written by a professional.

• 8. Don’t Send Automated Queries to Google

  Sending queries from your site or blog automatically to Google servers gets on their nerves. It’s clearly stated that they don’t want to receive them, so follow the rules and avoid it! Third party software programs that automatically request for ranking check and page reviews are the main offenders here.

I NEED HELP!

If you’ve lost rankings because of the Google Penguin update, the team at roi.com.au are able to help. Our expert SEO consultants and support teams are available to ensure your site is running to perfection – not struggling with every algorithm change Google puts in place. Fill in our enquiry form to learn more today!

Pinterest is a social image sharing site. Distinctly different from any other image sharing sites, Pinterest collates images in an effective way into genres that are easily viewed, shared and commented on.

Pinterest’s slogan is “share and organise beautiful things on the web”, with users able to create their own pin boards around a particular topic of interest. You are then able to re-pin images already on site or upload your own photos to the board in order to develop a collage of images that showcase your interests.

Pinterest has shot to fame quicker than both Facebook and YouTube

Pinterest was an instant sensation, picking up 10,000 users just 9 months after its launch date. To put this in perspective, Facebook took 16 months to reach the same mark. YouTube took a year.

The site now has around 11.7 million unique visitors per week, with over 17.5 million users being clocked up during March 2012.

It’s a colossal rise to fame that doesn’t look like slowing anytime soon.

What type of people use Pinterest?

Users are largely women with an interest in DIY sectors. According to an independent study, the most popular categories to pin under are Home, Arts & Crafts and Style/Fashion, with these sectors accounting for round 60% of Pinterest’s total pin boards. According to the study, food is the fastest growing sector – little wonder when we see the amount of food pictures featured on other social networking websites.

Most people source their images from websites like esty.com, flickr.com, tumblr.com and of course Google.

How can Pinterest improve my business?

Referral traffic from Pinterest has proved to be very rewarding for businesses. It currently sits in the top 5 social networking sites for referral traffic, outdoing the much touted Google+.

It’s a great place for business to promote new products and services, with many users utilising the site to preview products before buying them online or in-store. Pin boards showcasing products tend to generate the most ‘likes’ from other users, something which is great news for marketers.

Major companies like Gillete, Ikea, Coca-Cola and McDonalds all utilise Pinterest to showcase their products and generate referral traffic.

One of the biggest beneficiaries from Pinterest traffic are women’s magazines. Companies like Martha Stewart, Country Living and Vogue are all on board the Pinterest revolution, with Martha Stewart getting more traffic from Pinterest than both Facebook & Twitter combined.

The fact that these magazines are able to cater for Pinterest’s most popular categories – that being DIY, Home, Arts & Crafts and Fashion – allows them to take advantage of a captive audience already present on the site. As Pinterest grows, more topics will become available for businesses to target, making it a smart move to start pinning now and beat the rush.

The 5 steps required to start enjoying Pintererst referral traffic

If you’re a business that relies heavily on imagery, Pinterest is a great option for you. We’re talking wedding photographers, florists, web design, restaurants and hotels. Getting on the site and creating your own pin board is quick and easy:

• 1. Request an invitation to the site – it’s pretty quick and as far as we know, no one gets denied
• 2. Sign up using your Facebook or Twitter, or just create a log-in from scratch
• 3. Select topics which interest you to populate your Pinterest homepage
• 4. Create your first pin boards around topics key to your business – for a Florist it may be your range of Valentine’s Day arrangements
• 5. Upload your photos to Pinterest or ‘re-pi9n’ other users photos to your pin boards

The more images and information you add to your boards, the more likely you are to get followers and referral traffic to your website – simple!

What is this Google+? A common question we are roi.com.au are being asked. How is it going to benefit a small Australian local business, is it worth the time an effort which social media often demands.

In short, Google+ is an important social media, because it is developed by Google, one of the Internet’s favourite brands and one of the most influential web presence to date — Google logs 2 billion searches a day, approximately 300 million people use Google a day.

Here are the top reasons for using Google+ if you are a small business:

1. Get an SEO Boost (isn’t that what we are all striving for):

Use circles to gain referral access to people otherwise invisible to your influence. By sharing a circle of users based around a certain topics or products, including yourself within, your Google+ page will be added to people outside of your view on Google+. Not only will that mean that your content will be seen within their stream and seen by those following them, when that user is logged into Google+ and using the standard Google search, your businesses relevant content will be given precedence in search ranking result. Instant SEO! Also, Using a +1 button on your pages or products, also gives you instant insight into peoples impressions of your business .

2. Hangout!:

Hangouts offer an amazing opportunity for business to engage in a highly personal way with clients, customers and industry thought leaders. In addition it also opens up the opportunity for employees in remote locations to hold team meetings to brainstorm with one another from an interface that affords them immediate and easy access to share and collaborate on relevant documents and spread sheets.

3. Expand your Distribution and influence:

Google+ is immediate, like with search results being influenced by who the user is following on Google+ (if singed in), gaining a following on Google+ happens much quicker than on other platforms. An example is where I company took over a year to receive 1000likes on Facebook, but only weeks to have that number of people circle them back.

4. Connect with Likeminded Early Adopters:

If your business falls in the Internet or technology industries, Google+ could be a great place to connect a tech-savvy audience. Find yourself around likeminded individuals, 100million users is a small population in comparison to Facebook’s or twitters faithful, but it’s a select audience — 80% of which is male, and from a technology background.

5. Target your Unique Audience:

Google+ really shines in the way that you can select the audience to which you share specific content. “The obvious benefit of Google+ is that it allows us to share content directly with those certain groups of followers.

6. Personal Networking:

Create a personal Google+ account as well as a company page, and use that personal account to share and network with people. It’s amazing the kind of deeper business connections you can make just by knowing that someone has just had a recent newborn or supports the Essendon football club. The “About” section of a contact’s Google+ profile is usually a great place to start.

7. Take a look around, you might like it:

Google+ is still in the shadow of some of its bigger rivals, but it is quickly growing and gaining a much more unique user base and experience. It also has the giant platform of Google behind it, which is unlikely to allowing Google+ to fail. Google has such a n impact on the way people find relevant information on the net, Google+ will soon become significant in combining social and search. Become an early adopter to ensure your business isn’t left behind.

Choosing the right domain name for your business is crucial to establishing its identity. Where possible you should register both .com and .com.au domain names and redirect one to the other. Ultimately though, it really comes down to personal preference.

Something to consider is that many Australian consumers may feel more comfortable with an Australian domain if it isn’t already immediately obvious that your business is located in Australia. But as more people become more web savvy this may change. 

.com‘s Versus  .com.au‘s

It is now also possible to tell search engines the market in which you intend to use the domain, but bear in mind though there are some notable differences between the 2 top level domains:

• .com addresses can be registered year by year or up to 10 years in advance.
• .com.au addresses can be registered for a period of 2 years.
• .com addresses are governed by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the only requirement is that you provide correct contact information with the registrar.
• .com.au addresses are governed by .au Domain Administration (auDA). You must have at least one of the following; a state business registration number, an ABN or an ACN.  The domain name should also be an exact match of your business or a closely related to the functions of your business.

 As .com addresses are managed by an American organisation you must conform to American laws which are significantly different to Australian Laws and regulations. For instance, you cannot host unclassified material on Australian domains whereas American laws are much more lax about this. 

Registering a Trading name and Trademark

If you intend to register a trading name, and trademark then make sure the domain you want is available. In some cases you might find someone else has registered the domain you want but not doing anything with it. In some instances you can purchase the domain from them (normally at a highly inflated rate).  

AuDA also has a complaint process available where someone has registered a domain you have rights to. However, this may be a long drawn out process and if you don’t have the time your best bet is to either use the alternative variation or choose another domain. 

If you wish to pro-actively protect your business, domain names, trademarks and trading names give Protect Your Investment (PYI) a call. 

 

Most people want to double their business.

Is this achievable?

The average business website in Australia converts 1-2% of their search engine traffic into sales/sales leads. If your sales team converted 1-2% of their leads into sales, you would make a change, so why is your website any different?

In most cases doubling your website conversion rate to 3-4% is not only realistic, but can also happen quickly with the right approach and following the steps below.

Top 10 tips – Increasing your conversion rates

	Make your website conversion rate a priority and get someone or a specialist company to own it. Improving your conversion rate generally requires a collaborative approach between sales, marketing, management and your web team.. all these departments can help provide valuable information to improve, but you need to allocate an owner to the goal if you want to see the best results.
	Know your baseline performance. Divide your number of sales and sales leads by your number of non-branded website visitors per month. Non-branded website visitors helps you distinguish between new and existing customers.
	Focus on the extra 2%, not the 98% you are missing out on. You only need 2% improvement to double your conversion rate.. Stay focused. Target markets where your company is already strong, rather than trying to re-invent your business to appeal to every market segment.
	Identify your “money” keywords. Segment those keywords which provide the highest quality opportunities and most profitable deals for your business.
	Do some digging. Talk to your sales, marketing and customer service teams so you understand the needs of your most profitable customers a little better. Who are they, what are their needs, what are the most common questions asked by prospects, why are they buying from your organization. Now, you should understand your target market a little more and their motivations.
	Check out your competition like your potential customers do – Google makes it easy for people to review companies and create a short list. You are in a competitive market and customers have lots of choice. Your website needs to be sharp and clearly illustrate why I should buy from you instead of another company.
	Design website conversion pages – Use the information collected from your digging to create a website experience which talks to the needs of your customers, reflects your sales process and has a compelling offer.
	Invest in “Testing” – The Internet makes it easy and fast to create different web pages with unique offers and presentation. Don’t believe in the one good idea. Create multiple pages, use different designs and test different offers to see which works best…. you just might be surprised which page your customers respond to best.
	Drive more qualified traffic – Implement a targeted PPC and SEO campaign to increase the amount of “money” keyword traffic your website receives. Better quality traffic, equals better quality sales leads, better sales results and a more profitable business.
	Give the best leads to your best sales people – Know the conversion rates of your sales team. Match the best leads to your sales staff with the best conversion rates. The best sales staff will not only bring in the $$, they should also provide feedback on how your marketing efforts can keep improving.

The Meta description is a piece of information used to describe any given web page. This information is not shown on the page you directly see and browse, rather all Meta information sits in the source code of a page.

If you wish to find the Meta description of any page you are browsing simply:

• Right click anywhere on the page
• Click “view source code” (or similar depending on your browser)
• Bring up the search function of your browser
• Search for: name=“description”

Generally the Meta information resides at the top of the source code.

It looks like this:

<meta name=”description” content=”roi.com.au is Australia’s leading SEO & search marketing company, delivering tangible, transparent and measurable results to hundreds of Australian businesses.” />

You can see it in the source code. It will generally be in a different place on every website, but a meta description should exist on every page:

What are meta descriptions used for?

Search Engines may use the Meta description to describe a page in their search results. This generally appears as the 160 character description below the URL link for every search result. Take a look at how the major search engines display them:

Example:

URL: http://www.roi.com.au

Meta description: roi.com.au is Australia’s leading SEO & search marketing company, delivering tangible, transparent and measurable results to hundreds of Australian businesses.

Google:

Bing:

Yahoo:

 What should a Meta description say?

The content of a Meta description should be primarily dictated by the user and the interpretation of the user.  That means you should optimise your Meta description to get a high click through rate from the Search Engine Results pages (SERPs), as opposed to optimising for rankings. Gone are the days when the Meta description was a significant contributing factor towards ranking in the SERPs.

To create a great Meta description stick to the following rules of thumb:

1. Don’t use any unnecessary words: you only have 160 characters. Anything else will be cut off, so keep it brief.
2. Reflect the intention of the page: make sure the Meta description is an accurate reflection of the intention of the page. If it’s not you will get a high bounce rate. For example, if your page was a call to action to buy a product then your meta description should mention “buy product x”
3. Put your most important words to the front of the Meta description: remember, your user’s attention span is short, so make sure your most important part of the message exists on the top line of the description. If it exists on the second line they may not read it when skimming through search results.

Some other helpful articles around the web:

• http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/meta-description
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_element
• http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2067564/How-To-Use-HTML-Meta-Tags